The Federal Reserve is hopeful it has bought enough time with moves to soothe jittery credit markets to hold off any cut to the benchmark federal funds rate before a September meeting, if any easing is necessary at all.

Investors weighed up on Wednesday the prospects of a near-term U.S. rate cut to calm a financial storm stemming from America's faltering home loan sector, as the European Central Bank moved to soothe money markets again. Indicating liquidity problems were far from over, the ECB said it would hold a tender to add 40 billion euros in 91-day funds to the euro money market on Thursday -- a technical measure aimed at supporting the normalisation of the market.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures bank deposits, said on Wednesday it is closely monitoring credit markets and the biggest U.S. banks' balance sheets as troubled real estate loans rose 36 percent in the quarter ended June 30.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on Wednesday for a broader Asia partnership of democracies that would include India, the United States and Australia but leave out the region's superpower, China.

Russia banned poultry imports from Italy starting Monday to prevent the spread of the bird flu virus after outbreaks in the EU member state, but Italy said the strain was not dangerous and the ban impact was negligible.

Desperate efforts to save 181 Chinese coal miners from two shafts flooded with water and mud faced near impossible odds on Wednesday, as a safety official said mine owners had failed to anticipate the threat of disaster.

A Nicaraguan judge has embargoed assets of U.S. oil company Esso Standard Oil in a tax payment dispute between the government of leftist President Daniel Ortega and the unit of giant ExxonMobil Corp, a government aide said on Tuesday.

Investors sought to gauge on Wednesday the prospects of a near-term U.S. rate cut to calm a financial storm stemming from America's faltering home loan market, as some experts said the world economy would take a hit.

Experts are reassuring investors that U.S. money market mutual funds, which have gathered about $165 billion in new assets over an eight-week period, are safe from the subprime mortgage problems that have caused steep losses at several hedge funds.

China raised interest rates on Tuesday for the fourth time this year, aiming to counter expectations of accelerating inflation after consumer prices rose in July at the fastest pace in more than a decade.

China, the world's top emitter of sulphur dioxide, has managed to cut emissions of the acid-rain causing pollutant in first half of 2007, but the government said on Tuesday that meeting national targets would be tough.

Canada's annual inflation rate held unchanged at 2.2 percent in July and the core rate fell to 2.3 percent from 2.5 percent in June, a steady performance that analysts said makes an interest rate rise in September highly unlikely.